


statue of ice

by m3owww



Series: maribat [6]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: And angst, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Finally, Fluff, Gen, It's always Jason, You Have Been Warned, a siblings au, because that's mandatory for my fics, cHAPTER FIVE IS HERE, i tagged this as fluff but there is much more angst, the character death is jason, this was supposed to be a oneshot, under the same name!, where Marinette is the older sibling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:54:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26009086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m3owww/pseuds/m3owww
Summary: Marinette Drake is ten years old, made from marble and ice. Unflinching. Unfeeling. Just like her mother Janet wants.Nothing can warm her.Except Tim.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: maribat [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842979
Comments: 152
Kudos: 620





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ...I'm starting another multi-chaptered fic. This is probably only going to have two or three parts though. _Probably._
> 
> Update (1.3.21): I lied haha

Marinette Adeline Drake is made of ice, just like her mother wants her to be.

Janet Drake never wanted a child, much less two. When the first baby turned out to be a girl, Jack saw her as useless, not a proper heir for the company. He needed a son, and demanded another.

Janet, however, saw an opportunity. An opportunity to mold the girl into a smaller version of her. And mold the girl, she did, on the rare occasions that she was home.

Marinette Drake is just like her mother. Hard steel gray eyes, ebony hair, fair, unblemished skin and face never betraying a hint of emotion. She has already proven herself to be a ruthless businesswoman and capable strategist, defeating many of her mother’s colleagues in verbal debates and having successfully negotiated business deals with companies that made their profits soar on multiple occasions when her mother decided she needed the practice.

Marinette Drake is being groomed to take Drake Industries from her brother by force one day if she must, while Jack Drake remains unaware. She is ten years old, made from marble and ice. Nothing can warm her.

Except Tim.

Her younger brother by two years silently enters her room, small hands grasping his camera bag. “Let’s go! Today’s the third Wednesday of the month, which means that Batman and Robin will be starting in the shopping district and heading west. We can catch them on 35th street between 10:36 and 10:41!”

Marinette smiles warmly, a gesture she saves for Tim and only Tim. “Lead the way, Tim-Tam.” She follows her little brother out of her bedroom window, shimmying down the large oak tree and landing lightly on the ground.

Logically, she knows that she shouldn’t be climbing fire escapes at night in the City of Crime with her eight year old little brother, and that she should be convincing him to stay home instead of following him onto rooftops so he can take pictures of Batman and Robin. But Tim had already shown that he would go out with or without her, and at least if she went with him, she wouldn’t lie awake at night worrying about whether or not he was safe. 

Additionally, there was something magical about sitting on a rooftop at night, watching Gotham’s Dark Knight leap from building to building, cape trailing behind him in the wind, and the figure of the Boy Wonder following, never far behind.

Tim raises his camera and snaps pictures in rapid succession, blue eyes shining. “That was so cool!” He whispers excitedly. “Did you see them?”

“It was hard to miss.” Marinette replies, smiling. “We see it almost every night, yet it never ceases to amaze.”

The entire way home, Tim is babbling about how awesome Batman and Robin are, and Marinette lets the sound of his chatter wash over her, making warmth bloom in a heart encased in ice.

.o0o.

Her parents are returning home today from a two month trip to Argentina. Marinette makes sure that their rooms are clean, beds made with military precision the way Jack likes it. All of her homework, completed with perfect cursive, is put into a folder and tucked into her school bag.

Marinette and Tim greet their parents at the door. “Mother. Father. Welcome back. How was your trip?” She asks, at the same time Tim says “Mom! Dad! How was Argentina?”

Jack grunts. “Marinette, be useful for a change and go get the other suitcases from the car.”

Marinette is made of ice. Jack’s words do not affect her. “Yes, sir.” She says, walking down the path to the driveway with elegance and grace, the way Janet has taught her. The suitcases are heavy, but she refuses to surrender to a piece of luggage.

Eventually, her parents’ suitcases have all been moved into the house, and they move to the dining room for dinner. Tim silently sets the table as Marinette brings out the salmon and rice she made. (Mrs. Mac cleaned and cooked when Jack and Janet were gone, but Jack insisted that every girl should know how to cook. It is expected of her.)

Of course, the dinner doesn’t last long before Janet and Jack start arguing. It never does. Marinette excuses herself and puts her plates in the dishwasher, Tim quickly following her lead, and they head upstairs as the volume increases. 

Tim’s bedroom is separated from hers by a door that can be locked from both sides. They never use the locks, however. 

When the sound of glass shattering comes, Tim slips into her room, sock covered feet padding lightly on the hardwood floor, and Marinette wraps her arms around him, scooping him up and depositing him on her bed. She bundles him in her softest blanket, takes  _ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone _ off her bookshelf, and reads.

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much…”

Marinette wakes up the next morning with her little brother curled up into her side, golden sunlight from her window illuminating his face.

When they head downstairs, dressed in their school uniforms and ready for school, the only other person in the house is Mrs. Mac, who is sweeping up the glass in the dining room.

“Your parents left on an impromptu trip to Italy. They haven’t bought return tickets yet.”

Marinette’s face stays carefully blank.

.o0o.

Marinette’s middle name, Adeline, has French origins and means ‘noble.’ Jack took no part in naming her- that was all Janet. 

She supposes that Janet wanted to constantly remind her that she is a Drake, a member of one of the richest families in Gotham, and she is expected to act as such at all times.

And she does- when her parents are home, whenever she leaves the house, when Mrs. Mac is within earshot.

The only person who knows her, the true her that isn’t made out of ice and stone, is Tim. He has a façade, too. When Jack and Janet are home, when he is in public, he is Timothy Jackson Drake.

Timothy Jackson Drake is cold, all sharp, knowing smiles that make grown men shiver and intelligent blue eyes harder than steel. He is a businessman, groomed to one day become the CEO of a million dollar corporation. He isn’t completely made of ice the way she is. He still smiles in his parents’ presence, still tries to hold the family together when their parents are home, still lights up at any praise from either parent.

Marinette has learned that Jack will never praise her, and that any praise coming from Janet means almost nothing. She takes it all in with a straight face and calculating eyes.

Tim-Tam, her younger brother, has a smile like the sun. His intelligent blue eyes are warm and joyful, and his laugh, while too rare, never fails to make her smile. He enjoys business, but his passion is photography. He is amazing with computers, has an immense knowledge of the Justice League, and likes to play chess.

Marinette thinks that Janet loves both of them, in her own twisted way. Jack only cares for his son.

.o0o.

Tim-Tam is brilliant.

In a five second clip featured on the news, Robin leaps off the roof of Wayne Enterprises and does a somersault. Marinette is designing a dress, and doesn’t count the number of rotations, but Tim does.

“That was four rotations!” He gasps, shooting up from his position on the couch. “Only one person alive can do a quadruple somersault! Robin is Dick Grayson!”

Marinette remembers the Flying Graysons. She remembers being five years old, Jack and Janet trying to make up for being gone for the better part of half a year by taking them to the circus that was in town. She remembers taking a picture with the Graysons and their nine-year-old son, Dick, before the show. She remembers watching in amazement, as they soared through the air.

She remembers being unable to look away as the trapeze lines snapped, and the Graysons fell.

She remembers the cries of their son, the horrified gasps of the crowd, the screaming and the panic.

Dick Grayson was taken in by Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, who is the right size and build and most certainly has the wealth and technology to be Batman.

“Which means Batman is Bruce Wayne.” Marinette says, at the same time Tim does.

They look at each other, smiling, and Marinette pulls him into a hug.

“You are amazing, Tim-Tam.” She whispers into his hair. “Never forget that.”

.o0o.

Gotham Academy is full of spoiled rich children.

They all think that they are the best, and the social hierarchy is based on the wealth of your family and how well their business is doing.

Most kids arrive in expensive cars or limos. Marinette and Tim? They bike.

The school isn’t too far from Drake Manor, and their parents probably thought they teleported anyway.

Marinette slides her bike into the bike rack and locks it before walking into the middle school. She is twelve years old, and in the eighth grade. Jack didn’t want her skipping more than one grade. She doesn’t question his logic anymore. It only brings pain.

Tim walks alongside her, in the sixth grade at ten years old. They go their separate ways when Marinette reaches her locker, saying silent goodbyes with their eyes.

Marinette doesn’t have any friends in her grade. Tim is her best friend. He’s the only friend she needs.

Her algebra test comes back with perfect marks. So does her history test, and the pop quiz they took in science. Her French is flawless, as usual, and the essay she wrote about the racist themes in  _ Of Mice and Men _ comes back with full marks.

Nothing out of the ordinary, really.

What is out of the ordinary is what she sees upon exiting the school building at the end of the day.

There’s a boy shoving Tim to the ground.

There’s a boy shoving her brother, her Tim-Tam, to the ground, making him cry out as his hands and knees scrape the concrete and his books fall out of their neat stack in his arms.

Marinette sees Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne’s new ward and new Robin, move towards them, fury in his eyes, but she gets there first.

The boy’s arms are pinned behind him and his face is shoved into the ground in all of three seconds. Janet always insisted that Marinette know how to defend herself, and more importantly, how to fight back.

“Don’t you  _ ever _ lay a hand on my brother again.” She hisses, all ice cold fury and venom and ruthlessness. “Or I will make you regret it.”

A teacher shows up, gasping at the sight of the petite Marinette Drake shoving the face of a student twice her size into the concrete, steely gray eyes unforgiving and not a single dark hair out of place.

In the end, the principal lets her off scot-free. She was defending her brother, and security footage showed that the other student made the first move against Tim.

Jack and Janet Drake, however, are furious.

“You attacked another student!” Jack roars, face turning purple. “You sullied the Drake name! Do you know how that will affect our business?”

Marinette does not think that pinning one student to the ground will make their company go bankrupt. But she keeps her mouth shut and bows her head, waiting for this to be over.

“Marinette Adeline.” Janet seethes, cold gray eyes flashing with a danger she usually saves for the board members. “We keep you clothed, keep you fed, pay for you to have the best education you possibly can, and in return, what do you do? Become a stain on our family’s history forever.”

Marinette doesn’t think that it will be written in the history books that one schoolgirl stood up to another student. She resists the urge to point out that not only did her mother teach her the move she used, but she also showed her twelve different ways to maim a man with a stiletto. That would definitely leave stains.

“How could we possibly keep you?” Jack yells. “How could we just let you continue living in our home, let you continue to go on with your life that is funded completely by us, knowing that you betrayed us like this?”

Well, that was a bit over the top. Marinette thinks of Tim, who had shut himself in his room as soon as they arrived home. Usually, when Jack and Janet are yelling, it’s at each other, and she would be upstairs with him, keeping him occupied with other things to take his mind off the screaming. But now Tim is all alone upstairs, unable to block out the sounds.

“We’ve decided to send you away.” Janet says, and Marinette’s head shoots up, eyes widening. Send her away? To where? What about Tim? “You do remember Audrey Bourgeois, don’t you?”

She nods silently, mind still racing. Audrey Bourgeois, married to the mayor of Paris. One daughter her age- Chloe. She was a typical spoiled rich child, but seemed to like Marinette. 

“Good. You’ll be staying in her father’s hotel indefinitely, and you will attend the same school as Chloe.” Janet is calm, like she hasn’t just shattered Marinette’s entire world. 

Of course, Janet Lynn Drake wouldn’t care if she did shatter her daughter’s world. Or maybe she took satisfaction in doing so.

After the worst news of her life, after Jack and Janet are satisfied that they have crushed her soul under their heels, Marinette is sent to her room to pack. She leaves tomorrow morning.

Tim is sitting at the top of the stairs, silent tears running down his cheeks, and she knows he heard every single word.

She is leaving Gotham. Leaving America. Leaving Tim-Tam alone in a large empty house when Jack and Janet are travelling, leaving him alone in his room when they are home and arguing, leaving him to take pictures of Batman and Robin by himself. Tomorrow morning, she’s leaving Tim.

Marinette hugs him tight, ignoring the burn in her own eyes, and wishes that she would never have to let him go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paris is... different. Marinette somehow makes friends even though she isn't trying to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, two days ago: I'm gonna write a timari siblings au! It'll be a oneshot!  
> Me, 2.5k words in and nowhere near done: ...twoshot?  
> Me, writing chapter two: ...fourshot?

Marinette packs quickly and efficiently.

After she finishes packing, she opens her window and shimmies down the large oak tree, sprinting across the grass towards the stone wall that separates Drake Manor from Wayne Manor.

Marinette knocks on the Waynes’ front door. It is answered by the butler (Alfred Pennyworth, she remembers), who looks mildly surprised to see her this late at night.

“Sorry to bother you, Mister Pennyworth, but is Jason home?”

“Why don’t you have a seat, Miss Drake. I shall fetch him for you.” The butler replies.

Jason Peter Todd is the same age as her, in her grade and several of her classes at Gotham Academy. He is well-known for standing up to bullies, no matter the victim, and got off with only light punishment because of his guardian- Bruce Wayne.

Jason is the second Robin, after Dick Grayson became Nightwing. He is the best candidate for what she needs to ask of him.

The boy enters the sitting room, not dressed in pajamas even though it is quite late. His blue eyes watch her carefully, trying to deduce why she is here, but she is made of ice. She does not show emotion.

“Marinette.”

“Jason. My parents are sending me to Paris to study. I leave tomorrow morning, but Tim isn’t coming with me. You are aware that my parents travel a lot, yes?”

Jason nods, still trying to figure out where this is going.

“When they are gone, they leave us alone for however long their travels last. They haven’t hired a nanny since I was seven. Our housekeeper comes by to clean and cook twice a week, and that is it.”

The boy’s eyes widen, and his mouth opens, about to say something, but she cuts him off.

“I know that it is neglect, and that Child Protection Services should be called. But you know what the foster system is like. I cannot let Tim go through that. Please, while I am gone, will you look after my brother? Make sure he’s eating properly, getting enough sleep, things like that? I understand that this is a huge favor to ask, but there is no one better to do so than Robin.”

“Y-you must be mistaken,” Jason stammers, eyes wide. “I’m not-”

“Robin?” Marinette says. “Yes, yes you are. Tim figured it out last year. He’s a huge fan, by the way. Please, Jason, look after him for me. I know that we are not very close, but I didn’t know who else to ask.”

Jason exhales slowly. “Man, B’s gonna kill me. I’ll look after your brother, Marinette. Don’t worry. The Boy Wonder has it covered.”

Marinette lets the tiniest hint of a smile slip onto her face. “Thank you.”

“Before you leave, can I ask how he figured it out? Was it my fault?”

“Oh, no.” Marinette shakes her head, warmth blooming through her at the memory. “It was just before Dick Grayson became Nightwing. Tim saw a five-second clip on the news of Robin doing a somersault and counted four rotations. The quadruple somersault was the Flying Graysons’ signature move.”

“Huh.” Jason says. “Tim’s got some crazy detective skills. He’s a smart kid, that one.”

Marinette smiles. “Yes, yes he is.”

.o0o.

Tim crawls into her bed about ten minutes after Marinette comes back. 

Marinette doesn’t blame him. She pulls him in and tucks her blankets around his body, and he nestles into her.

The next morning, Marinette is woken up at 4:30 by her mother knocking on the door. “We leave in twenty minutes for the airport, Marinette.” Janet says cooly. Marinette supposes she should be grateful that her mother cared enough to wake her up.

Tim sits up next to her, rubbing sleep from his eyes as she gets out of bed. “Please don’t go.” He whispers, and Marinette’s heart breaks at the expression on his face.

“I don’t have a choice, Tim-Tam.” She says.

“Yes, you do!” He insists. “W-we can run away! Together! We can run away and live in an apartment and-”

“You know that is not feasible right now.” Marinette interrupts gently.

A single sob escapes Tim’s mouth. “I just- I just don’t want you to go.”

Marinette hugs him, squeezing as hard as she can without hurting him, and he clings onto her like a lifeline. “I don’t want to leave either. But it’s going to be okay, Tim-Tam. It’s going to be okay.”

She presses one last kiss to his forehead before gathering her luggage and leaving her room.

.o0o.

Marinette Adeline Drake was a girl made of ice and marble, cold and unflinching.

Marinette, as Tim knew her, was a girl who liked designing clothing. A girl who spent her time protecting her brother from her parents and their neglect. 

But Marinette, though her surname remained the same, was told that she was not allowed to be a Drake anymore. That she was not allowed to be the girl carved from ice, because she was a Drake.

Tim-Tam isn’t here either, so what would she smile at? Who would she smile for?

She muses over these thoughts as Chloe Bourgeois, whom she met when they were six years old, drags her to store after store, searching for ‘clothing that makes you look like the queen you are, Mari-bear.’

Marinette Adeline Drake is who Chloe met when they were younger. Marinette Adeline Drake apparently acts like a queen, according to Chloe. Chloe expects her to be Marinette Adeline Drake.

Being Tim-Tam’s Marinette would most likely result in more friends. She ponders whether or not having friends would be worth it.

_ It is necessary to have a large social network. _ Janet’s voice whispers in her mind.

But that is advice meant for a Drake, which she is not.

Would Chloe count as a friend? She is not a terrible person, even though some may think so. She is just insecure about her place in the social hierarchy of her class, which then results in her lashing out at others to reassure herself that she is on top.

Chloe wants her to be the girl made of ice. But Tim-Tam’s Marinette would make friends, and Chloe is a friend.

Marinette decides to be a girl made from ice and marble, because her friend Chloe expects her to. It makes losing Tim-Tam hurt less.

She doesn’t need any other friends anyway.

.o0o.

The other students in her class look at her curiously when the teacher introduces her as a new student.

Marinette would, too. After all, who joins a class halfway into the school year?

Madame Bustier tells her that she will need to make up a lot of assessments, and hands her a large folder.

“I understand that this is a lot, so you will have three months to complete it.” The teacher says. 

Marinette measures the thickness of the stack and compares it to the font size of the papers. “I will have this completed by next week.”

Throughout the day, the other students keep on trying to approach her, but Chloe’s constant presence next to her seems to drive them away.

Marinette wonders if she really looks that approachable, even when she is trying to be ice. Why is it that Chloe is the one to drive them away? Is it because she is new, and they have only learned to fear Chloe?

Does she want her new classmates to fear her, the way they do the queen bee?

She should ask Tim. He gives great advice.

.o0o.

It is not hard to purchase a phone. Jack and Janet graciously allowed Marinette to continue using the credit card she was given once she turned eight. They do not ever monitor her transactions, she has no reason to believe that they will start now.

Janet informed her, before she and Jack left for their own airport terminal that would take them to India, that her phone number would be blocked from all household devices. Marinette didn’t bother bringing her phone with her anyway. She expected it.

However, she does have Tim’s number memorized, and saves it in her new mobile device after sending a message.

**Unknown Number:** Hey Tim-Tam, this is Marinette. How are you doing?

It has been almost forty-eight hours since Tim was left at home alone, Marinette going to Paris and their parents to India. Even though he should still be in school, her phone chimes with a reply a couple seconds later.

**Tim-Tam:** Mari! You got a new phone?

**Mari:** Well, of course. I know they must have blocked my old number, and there was no way I was not going to keep in contact with you.

**Tim-Tam:** I know it hasn’t been really long, but I really miss you.

**Mari:** I miss you too, Tim-Tam.

**Mari:** Now, why are you on your phone in class? Talking to me is not a valid excuse. Focus, Tim-Tam. Call me when school is over.

**Tim-Tam:** Okay. Fine.

.o0o.

Her phone starts ringing the moment it hits 9:15 pm in Paris, which means that the school day just ended in Gotham. 

Marinette accepts the request to video chat, and is greeted with her brother’s smiling face. “Marinette!”

“Tim-Tam.” She smiles. “It’s so nice to hear your voice. How was your day?”

“Jason Todd sat with me at lunch today! Jason Todd!  _ Robin  _ sat with me at lunch and I held a long conversation with him about Pride and Prejudice! _ Robin is a Jane Austen fan! _ ” Tim practically shrieks.

Marinette makes a note to mail Jason a thank you package. Maybe a suit for the inevitable galas? Would he appreciate a knit sweater? He seemed like the sweater type, but she thinks he wouldn’t say no to a leather jacket either. She’ll make both.

“How is Paris?” Tim asks. “Is your new school okay?”

“The architecture here is much lighter, in a cute kind of way.” Marinette says. “I do miss the gargoyles though. School is… school. Nor nearly challenging enough, but when is it ever?”

Tim hums, and Marinette glances at the glass doors leading to her suite’s balcony. “The view is beautiful from the hotel though. Do you want to see?”

She slides the doors open and steps out onto her balcony, letting the crisp night air wash over her. Marinette turns the camera around so her brother can see the City of Lights in all its nighttime glory, the Eiffel Tower standing proudly in the distance.

“Woah…” Tim breathes, blue eyes shining. Marinette doesn’t need to see his hands to know they are twitching towards his camera bag.

“It was even prettier at sunset.” She says. “I would take pictures, but they wouldn’t look right. You’re the photographer, Tim-Tam.”

Her brother giggles. “Maybe I can visit!” He sounds so  _ hopeful _ , and Marinette doesn’t want to crush that hope. Doesn’t want to tell him that her parents forbade any contact with him at all, and that she wouldn’t even be allowed back for summer vacation. There was no way he would ever be allowed to visit her in Paris.

But she hates hurting her Tim-Tam, so her smiles and says “Yeah. Maybe.”

.o0o.

After Marinette mails Jason the thank-you-for-looking-after-Tim package, she receives a letter two weeks later with a smiley face, email, and phone number.

They message each other daily. At first, it is just a status update on Tim, then Jason starts asking about her day and describing his. She starts receiving funny cat gifs and anecdotes about how Robin ‘totally beat Scarecrow’s ass last night’. 

Marinette sends him things in return. A joke she heard Nino tell Max that Jason would find hilarious. A picture of an adorable golden retriever she sees on the street. A magnificent photo of Robin, frozen mid-swing, cape billowing behind him and grin on his face, that Tim sends her.

A month after they start talking, two months after she moves to Paris, Marinette finds that she is smiling when she checks her notifications and sees that it is from Jason, and realizes that she has another friend.

.o0o.

Having multiple friends is not bad after all.

Marinette slowly but surely manages to convince Chloe that the other students in their class are not peasants that are meant to serve them, and soon enough, Marinette has new friends in the form of Alix, Juleka, Rose, and Mylene.

Not long after, Chloe becomes their friend too. Her personality is still sharp, but some of the edges have been rounded. 

On the last day of school, the girls have a sleepover in one of the hotel rooms at Le Grande Paris. It is Marinette’s first sleepover, unless nights spent in Tim’s bed count. 

Around ten thirty, they are watching  _ Legally Blonde _ while waiting for their painted nails (Marinette’s are ice blue) to dry when her phone sings the ringtone she only uses for one person.

“Sorry, I need to take this.” She says, and slips out into the hallway. “Tim-Tam?”

The audible sobs coming from the speakers makes her heart clench. She knows Jack and Janet are home right now, so it has to be serious if he’s risking calling her. What did they do, what did they say to him-

“Mom and Dad just said that you aren’t coming back for summer vacation.” He hiccups, and her eyes widen by a fraction of an inch. Marinette knew he would find out eventually, but she thought she would be the one to tell him. She thought she would still have time. “Is it true?”

“I’m sorry, Tim-Tam.” She says quietly. “I kept trying to figure out how to tell you, but-”

“It’s true?” Her brother snarls, and all of a sudden, the tears are gone and he is Timothy Jackson Drake, voice sharper than the sharpest blade. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know how.” Marinette murmurs, trying to encase herself in ice to ignore how the anger in Tim’s voice hurts. They both become statues of ice, the ones carefully sculpted by their parents, when they are upset.

“So you were just going to what? Tell me that you would be home soon, and then cancel? Tell me that you’d come home for break, and suddenly extend your stay by a few months? The way Mom and Dad do?” Tim, no,  _ Timothy _ ’s words slice through her like butter, and Marinette winces. “You were supposed to be different! I thought you were different!”

“Tim…” She says weakly, and Marinette hates for once that the only person that ever puts her at a loss for words is her brother.

Timothy’s voice is all knives and steel when he hisses “Goodbye, Marinette.” and hangs up.

When Marinette rejoins the other girls in the hotel room, she is a girl made completely from ice. Every part of her is frozen to the core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do I love making people cry? it's almost like I have no soul.... oh wait.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the summer goes by, and on the first day of school, Marinette finds that the earrings that mysteriously appeared in her hotel room are magical. go figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more jasonette fluff!

Marinette Drake isn’t a crier.

In fact, she prides herself on not being one. But when she wakes up much earlier than expected, given how late she and the others stayed up last night, the first thing she does is remember.

And then she really, really wants to cry. Because never, ever, in his life, has her brother used Timothy Jackson Drake’s voice when speaking to her.

_ He only does it when he is upset and in emotional distress _ , part of her says. But she was the one who caused him to be upset.

_ It’s not your fault Jack and Janet sent you away permanently! _ The same bit protests.

_ Isn’t it? _ She fires back.  _ I chose to pin the student down as ruthlessly as I did and make a scene. Even if that wasn’t my fault, I should have told Tim. I shouldn’t have put it off and let him find out this way. _

_ He should have let you explain. _ That tiny bit insists.  _ Maybe both of you were wrong. _

_ It doesn’t matter. _ She thinks.  _ Either way, Tim will never trust me again. _

Marinette silently exits the hotel room where the girls are still sleeping and enters her own so the tears can fall in private.

.o0o.

Her finger taps Jason’s icon. She doesn’t know who else to call, because normally Tim would be her first choice.

“Hey ‘Nette, what’s up? I just got back from patrol.” Jason says, then pauses when he hears her almost inaudible sniffles.

“Are you- are you crying?” He asks, almost incredulously (she can’t blame him. She didn’t take herself for a crier either.) “What’s wrong, ‘Nette?”

“What did I do wrong?” She asks quietly. “I tried so hard to be a good older sister, to make him trust me. I couldn’t tell him that I was sent away for goot, I  _ couldn’t. _ Why didn’t he understand that?”

“Woah, woah, ‘Nette, slow down. Deep breaths, okay? What happened?” Jason is a rock standing against the unrelenting sea of her (forbidden) emotions.

“Tim-Tam hates me now.” She whispers. “Tim-Tam hates me and thinks I’m just like Jack and Janet for not telling him that I wasn’t coming back for summer break. He doesn’t trust me anymore.”

Jason’s voice is so, so gentle when he says “No, Marinette, Tim loves you more than anything or anyone else in the world. I promise,” that she almost believes it.

Almost.

“Really? He became Timothy Jackson Drake, Jay. He used  _ that _ voice, the one he saves for people he dislikes being around, or-”

“Or for people he’s currently uncomfortable speaking to.” Jason says. “I remember you explaining it to me. ‘Nette, Tim loves you, which is precisely why he had to use that voice. He doesn’t know how to deal with the fact that he won’t be seeing the person he loves most for quite some time. Give him time to work through it, ‘Nette. He’ll come around. I promise.”

It doesn’t take away all her distress, but it helps that Jason seems so confident in what he’s saying. 

“Thank you, Jason.” Marinette says, wiping the (irritating) tears away. “I should let you go to sleep. I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to call.”

“It’s no problem, ‘Nette.” She can hear the smile in Jason’s voice. “We’re friends, aren’t we? I’ll always be here if you need me.”

.o0o.

The summer passes by in a blur.

Marinette is invited to plenty of hangouts with the other girls, but she is more detached than before. She knows they noticed, and that they probably linked it to that phone call, but she is grateful that they don’t pry.

They go to Andre’s ice cream cart once. Andre looks at her with an unreadable expression as he hands her a cone with ‘blackberry for his hair, blueberry for his eyes, and mint for the madness that rests behind his stare.’

_ Not dark and depressing at all. _ Marinette thinks as she tries the ice cream.  _ The combination does taste amazing though. _

Apparently, she is the only person in their group observant enough to notice that Rose and Juleka had ice cream cones that represented each other.

Did she know how to play matchmaker? No. Did Marinette make business deals with other million dollar corporations at the age of ten for nothing? Also no.

Marinette spends the summer texting or calling Jason, going shopping with Chloe, or trying to get Rose and Juleka together (how can two people be so oblivious?)

The entire time, not a single call or message she receives is from Tim.

.o0o.

On the first day of school, Marinette saves an old man from an oncoming car because Tim and Jason would be disappointed if she didn’t. She sits next to a new girl, Alya, so Chloe and Sabrina (who never really liked her for some reason) can sit behind ‘Adrikins’, whoever that is.

An hour and a half later, she watches her classmate, who is now a stone monster (?) smash everything in its path while roaring Kim’s name. 

Another half an hour later, she finds a wooden box with a pair of magical earrings that hosts a tiny goddess called Tikki that enables her to transform into a heroine with a ridiculously bright suit that is embarrassingly tight.

Another hour goes by, and Ladybug (American English, not the British ‘Ladybird’) and Chat Noir have defeated the akuma, as Tikki called it, and the situation has made national news, though it doesn’t go farther than that because it would be terrible for the tourist industry.

Marinette gets a message from Jason.

> **Jason:** heard about what happened. U ok?
> 
> **Nette:** I am fine. How did you learn about it? It was supposed to be contained within France.
> 
> **Jason:** i’m literally the partner of the world’s greatest detective
> 
> **Jason:** how did you NOT expect me to learn about it
> 
> **Nette:** Fair point.
> 
> **Jason:** so do u know anything abt Ladybug and Chat Noir?
> 
> **Jason:** this is the first time they’ve appeared, right?
> 
> **Nette:** I have a confession to make.
> 
> **Jason:** okay?

Tikki, who is reading over Marinette’s shoulder (a blatant invasion of privacy, but apparently gods do not understand the concept of privacy), glares. 

“You better not be telling him what I think you’re going to tell him, Marinette. Your identity must be a secret!”

Marinette resists the urge to roll her eyes. “To the general public, yes. However, Jason is Robin, the crime-fighting partner to the vigilante known as Batman. He has combat and field experience and knows what it is like to juggle civilian and hero lives. It would definitely not be counterproductive to receive advice from a more experienced ally when I only know basic self-defense.”

“...Fine.” Tikki sighs. “But don’t make this a habit!”

Marinette tsks as she glances back down at her phone. As if she needed Tikki’s approval.

> **Jason:** Nette? U there?
> 
> **Nette:** Sorry. Had to talk to someone.
> 
> **Nette:** I’m Ladybug.
> 
> **Jason:** i was not expecting that but wow okay
> 
> **Jason:** how did you manage to become a magical heroine since i last spoke to u abt half a day ago?
> 
> **Nette:** A classmate got angry, was turned into a stone monster by a magical butterfly, and I found magical earrings in my hotel room.
> 
> **Jason:** that may be one of the weirder origin stories I’ve heard lol
> 
> **Jason:** but on a more serious note, does that suit protect you properly?
> 
> **Nette:** It’s magic, which means it cannot rip as yours can. I estimate it absorbs about 99.6% of the damage.
> 
> **Nette:** Do you have any advice on how to do this whole hero thing? I am not sure I am suited to be one.
> 
> **Jason:** r u kidding me Nette ur one of the most heroic people i know
> 
> **Jason:** and i’ve met the justice league
> 
> **Jason:** u always did everything u could to keep ur brother happy and safe. U literally walked into my house, a mile away from urs, at midnight to ask for my help to do that when we barely knew each other
> 
> **Jason:** when u want to be, ur really kind and sweet and funny- charisma is a necessary skill that B doesn’t have, which is part of the reason why he needs a Robin
> 
> **Jason:** remember when u told me how u gave that homeless man the macarons you just bought from the bakery? And that u wish u could have done more?
> 
> **Nette:** I do remember that, yes.
> 
> **Jason:** most people wouldn’t give a homeless person a second glance. But u gave him a box of two dozen delicious cookies from the best bakery in paris that were most definitely not cheap.
> 
> **Jason:** that’s what a hero does, Nette. That’s what u are.
> 
> **Jason:** woah my fingers are really tired now lol
> 
> **Nette:** How are you so
> 
> **Nette:** Infuriatingly inspirational?
> 
> **Nette:** The only other person who does that is Tim, and I haven’t spoken to him in months.
> 
> **Jason:** u should contact him again
> 
> **Nette:** He doesn’t trust me.
> 
> **Jason:** yes he does! He just doesn’t know how to make up with you cuz he thinks he rlly messed up
> 
> **Nette:** I’ve already been shunned by him one, Jay. I don’t think I could handle a second time.
> 
> **Jason:** oh shit
> 
> **Nette:** ?
> 
> **Jason:** turn on the news.
> 
> **Jason:** now.

.o0o.

“Did you purify the akuma?” Her kwami asks, gazing at her with disappointment in her eyes and a condescending tone.

It reminds Marinette of Janet, and she hates it. “I have an eidetic memory, Tikki. I can tell you that nowhere in your speech about what I needed to do involved ‘purifying’ an akuma.”

“I’m sure I said it!” Tikki defends, crossing her tiny arms. “You must have forgotten!”

“Don’t be scared, Marinette! My name’s Tikki! I’m a kwami!” Marinette recites in a perfect mimicry of her kwami’s voice. “And you have been chosen to be a hero!”

“Then I express my doubt and you nag me until I agree to put the earrings on.” She says in her normal tone, maintaining eye contact with Tikki.

She switches back to Tikki’s voice. “Great! Your power is Lucky Charm. It will summon an object that will help you get an edge over your opponent in battle, and it is your job to know how to use it properly. You will have a partner with the ring of the Black Cat, their power will be Cataclysm, which can destroy the first thing it touches. However, you can only use your powers once per transformation. You will forcibly detransform five minutes after you call on your special power, so make sure you finish your fight quickly after using the Lucky Charm! Your identity must stay a secret! To transform, you say ‘Spots on!’”

“Then I transform, and you disappear into my suit.” Marinette raises an eyebrow at Tikki. “So, what did you miss?”

.o0o.

Purifying an akuma and casting the Miraculous Cure, both necessary to properly defeat an akuma in battle, and both of which can only be done by Ladybug. The most essential part about wielding this miraculous, and her kwami forgot. Wonderful.

“It’s not hard to fix, Marinette!” Tikki says, attempting a comforting smile. “We just have to wait for Ivan to get akumatized again!”   
  


“Yes, let’s wait for my classmate to be so depressed that he turns into a magical rage monster again.” Marinette deadpans. “Do you have no empathy? I was raised and conditioned to show no emotion, and even I can see how terrible that is.”

Her kwami flinches. “It’s the only way.”

Marinette. “I strongly dislike this, you know.”

“I do.” Tikki says apologetically. “But you were the only candidate.”

“Wow.” Marinette deadpans, watching the sun set over Paris, the city she must now protect. “I feel so honored.”

.o0o.

A brief list of what Marinette learns from her second day of school: Do not encourage people who love death metal to write a love song for their timid crush, Ivan and Mylene make a cute couple, Chloe’s friend ‘Adrikins’ is Adrien Agreste, the only son and lead model for fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, and Adrien gives her a bad feeling.

Oh, and Alya Cesaire is similar to Tim- they both run around following heroes to get good shots and angles. The difference is that Tim is sensible and stays hidden in the shadows, never seen or heard. Alya throws herself headfirst into danger, willing to be injured if it means she gets good footage.

She also learns that Chat Noir is flirty.

Well, he only started flirting after she made her counter-speech to Hawkmoth. The man really thought he could manipulate the situation to villainize them, when his face was made of demonic purple butterflies. ‘Akuma’ meant ‘demon’ in Japanese, which said a lot about who was on which side.

Marinette wasn’t the daughter of Janet Drake, who made grown men wet their pants with a single look and consistently ground her business rivals beneath her four-inch stilettos for nothing. Marinette knew how to use words as weapons sharper than any blade.

She supposes something about that speech must have turned the foolish cat boy on, because he started giving her ridiculous nicknames afterwards.

Marinette sighs. Hopefully, he will soon learn that he is wasting his time. It would really be a shame if Robin found out that her partner spent more time flirting than being useful. (The algorithm she wrote predicted that Chat Noir would cease to be more productive than counterproductive in almost a year.)

Her phone chimes with a robin’s call, and she accepts the incoming call.

“Nette!” Jason’s voice greets her. “That speech was abso-fucking-lutely amazing!”

“Language, Jay.” She warns, but she smiles all the same.

“You were like ‘How, pray tell, are Chat Noir and I the villains in this situation when your face is formed out of the same butterfly that turned a normal student into a stone being at your command in the first place?’ The look on Hawky’s face is gonna crack me up for weeks!”

Marinette cringes. “Please, don’t ever call him that again.”

“What? Hawky?” Jason asks, and he cringes again.

“Hawkmoth will suffice, Jay.” She sighs. 

“Nah, I like Hawky better.” He retorts. “Anyway, if you ever need me to help kick akuma butt, not that I think you will, just say the word and I’ll be there.”

“You do realize Paris is across the Atlantic Ocean, right?” Marinette asks. “A commercial flight takes seven hours, I assume the Batplane or whatever you call it could maybe do it in four, but that is still too much time.”

“It’s the Batwing.” Jason corrects. “And no, we have zetas, remember?”

Marinette frowns. “No.”

The sound of his facepalm echoes through the speakers. “Right. Since you know our identities, I suppose telling you another secret won’t hurt. You’re trustworthy. Zeta tubes are basically teleporters. The Justice League has them all over the world so they can get where they need to be in time. If I took the zeta downstairs in the Batcave, I could be in Paris in about two minutes, and that’s just because the Manor is insanely huge.”

“So if I were to enter the Paris zeta tube, I could be in Gotham almost instantly?” Marinette asks. “Science has certainly come a long way.”

“Well, I’d have to hack the mainframe to give you access first, but yeah.” Jason replies. “Do you want me to? You could see Tim in person.”

She could see Tim. The question is, would he want to see her? “If I did, he would ask how I managed to fly to Gotham when I should be in school, and how I managed to do so without alerting Jack and Janet. He doesn’t know I asked you to watch over him, nor that you know that we know your identities. I don’t think he would take it very well right now if I did tell him, and he would most likely think that I don’t trust him to take care of himself. I’ve broken his trust enough already.”

“Alright. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Jason says. “Just so you know, I’m programming your access in anyway if you ever change your mind. The Paris tube is behind the door labeled ‘No Entry’ on the side of The Nimble Thimble. You know where that is?”

“I do, yes.” Marinette responds. “I shop there sometimes for fabric.”

“Great. You know where to go if you ever want to come to Gotham!” Jason is grinning. She can hear it in his voice.

“Thanks, Jay.” She says, and she can almost hear his smile get wider.

“No problem Nette! You’re one of my closest friends, you know that? I’ll always be here if you need me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't end this chapter with angst! Are you proud?
> 
> (I'm building up for next chapter to be even angstier though. You have been warned.)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a certain liar enters the story, and a bird leaves to find his birth mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Major Character Death in this chapter.

Life goes on. Marinette now adds unscheduled akuma attacks to her daily life, but Jason helps her come up with a multitude of excuses and her grades don’t suffer.

As for Hawkmoth, she simply doesn’t have the resources to find one man in a city of 2.2 million people, but she knows someone who does- Batman. And Robin.

It would be unfair to ask them to prioritize her case over their own, however, especially when a lot more deaths, all of them permanent, stem from their cases, and so she waits and defends Paris. Patience is something she has in spades.

Halfway through the year, a new student appears. Her name is Lila Rossi, and right off the bat, Marinette can tell that she is of the same mold as the conniving businessmen who lie their way through everything, the kind that Janet Drake took extra satisfaction in putting down.

This girl is telling her classmates about how she is Ladybug’s best friend (lie), how she knows who Ladybug is (lie), that she knows famous directors and musicians and celebrities (all lies), and promising them false opportunities that they will rely on to further their careers. That will hurt them. Badly.

Marinette pulls the girl aside at lunch. “Lila, can I speak to you for a moment?”

They walk into an empty classroom, and the brunette flashes her a sickly sweet smile. “Marinette, was it? Alya told me that you like fashion and have a talent for business management. You know, I know a really good-”

“You can stop acting, Lila.” Marinette says sharply. Her gray eyes are cold, and Lila shrinks back a bit as they turn their piercing gaze on her. “You are lying to us. Why?”

The other girl’s smile grows wilder, more feral. “I only tell people what they want to hear.”

“And why do you?” Marinette asks calmly. “Even good lies are only houses of cards that are slightly more stable. Your lies, however, could be toppled over with the lightest breath of air.”

Lila Rossi holds two inches over her, and she tries to use that to her advantage, stepping forward in an attempt to look threatening. “People can’t resist when they hear what they like to hear. You won’t expose me, Marinette. If I think that you are even considering the action, I will turn all your friends, all your classmates,  _ everyone _ against you. You will be nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Marinette raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “And how do you plan to do that, exactly? By telling more easily disproved lies? I know your kind, Lila Rossi. I have met people who told bigger and better lies and were far more threatening than you think you are, and I have exposed them for the entire world to see. You think you will be able to turn everyone against me? Think again.”

The brunette opens her mouth, olive eyes furious, then closes it again. Marinette mentally notes that she looks like a fish. Eventually, Lila gives up and storms out of the classroom.

.o0o.

After school, she is drawing in the park when she spots Lila, who is reading a very ancient-looking book.

Inside her purse, Tikki gasps. “That book’s been missing for over a hundred years! Marinette, we need to get that book!”

As they watch, Lila throws it in a trash can, to which Tikki shrieks in outrage, and stands to meet Adrien Agreste, clinging to him like a leech.

Tikki takes this as her chance, and dives into the trash can, struggling to lift the book out. Marinette takes it from her hands and frowns as she flips through it.

“A book about… miraculous holders? Why would she have this?” Marinette tunes back into the ongoing conversation.

“Not only did Ladybug save my life, we've become very close friends because we have something very special in common- it's what I wanted to tell you about. I'm the descendant of a vixen superheroine myself, Volpina.” Lila tells an enraptured Adrien.

“Volpina?” Adrien says. “I think I read about her in my book!” He moves to open his bag, but Lila’s hand stops him.

So she stole it from Adrien. Marinette should return it to him, but not without recording the contents. They look important.

Marinette quickly and efficiently snaps photos of the pages (because eidetic memory couldn’t be shared with other people) while Lila prattles on about how Volpina is much more powerful than Ladybug.

As soon as she is finished, Marinette exits the park and ducks into a nearby alley to transform, choosing to approach the pair as Ladybug to disprove a few of Lila’s lies while she’s at it.

“Hello, sorry to interrupt, but does this book belong to you, Monsieur Agreste?” She asks, and revels in the expression on Lila’s face.

“Wait.” The blond says, and frowns when he sees that his bag is indeed missing the book. “Yes, yes it does, but how did you find it, uh, Miss Ladybug, ma’am?”

“I witnessed the young lady next to you throw it into a trash can.” Ladybug replies calmly. “It looked quite expensive, and once I inferred that it belonged to you, I thought you would want it back.”

“You stole my book and threw it in a garbage can?” Adrien whirls on Lila, outraged. “This book belongs to my father! It’s priceless!”

Ladybug files that tidbit away for later. “Monsieur Agreste, perhaps you should refrain from bringing priceless books to public places. Mademoiselle Rossi, please refrain from using my name to further your own popularity. I haven’t met you before today, and we are certainly not best friends. Additionally, do not use the necklace you purchased from Gabriel’s most recent jewelry line to try and convince his son that you are a superhero. If word got out, you would be in a lot of danger.”

“You lied about that too? Was anything you said true?” Adrien asks, and Lila buries her face in her hands, pretending to cry, but her shoulders do not shake.

“I- I just wanted to make you like me!” She fake sobs before running off.

.o0o.

Ladybug really doesn’t understand how her partner doesn’t realize that something is wrong when a huge asteroid manages to make it all the way into the inner atmosphere without being detected by the multitude of satellites orbiting Earth. Really, he should have been suspicious by then.

After the whole incident is over, Tikkit takes her to meet the Guardian, who turns out to be the old man she saved on her first day of school. Marinette is not impressed with the man, but sends him the pictures of the book that she took because the book was apparently a hundreds-of-years-old grimoire passed down by the Order of the Guardians. Who knew.

If this book was in Adrien’s father’s hands, there is a good chance that Gabriel Agreste is either working with or is Hawkmoth. Marinette texts Jason about her suspicions, and they agree to investigate. 

Jason repeats that one line of his, “I’ll always be here if you need me”, which makes her smile even though he must have said it a dozen times over by now.

Marinette realizes that she’s grown to need and rely on his support, and that she’s perfectly fine with it.

.o0o.

“I want to find my birth mom.” Jason tells her. “She’s in Ethiopia.”

Marinette frowns. “And Bruce will let you leave? Three-quarters of the way through the school year?”

Jason gives her his signature lopsided smirk over the video call. “By the time he realizes I’m gone, it’ll be too late.”

Marinette sighs. “Look, Jay, I won’t try and dissuade you from finding your birth mother if that’s what you want to do.” Janet Drake flashes through her mind, always cold and distant, the majority of her memories of her mother being her exiting the house to leave on another trip. “Just… remember that just because she gave birth to you, doesn’t mean that she will be a good person, or a good mother.”

“‘Kay.” Jason smiles, blue eyes dancing. “We’ll still keep in touch, right, ‘Nette?”

“Of course.” Marinette returns the smile, though hers is smaller and more awkward. Her facial muscles are still unused to the movement.

“Great.” Her closest friend beams. “And remember, I’ll always be here if you need me. That will never change, no matter what.”

.o0o.

Syren happens while Jason is in Ethiopia, and it is the first time she has seen so many bodies.

Seventy-five percent of the city- 1.65 million people estimated to have drowned. Ladybug brought them make, and they don’t remember anything. Their memories are blank gaps, voids that will never be filled for their own sanity.

But the survivors aren’t so lucky. She remembers, and there were  _ so many bodies, so many corpses, just floating facedown on the surface of the water, elderly men and women and infants and everyone in between, with a handful of crying survivors on the tallest roofs- _

Marinette stifles a sob. So many, and the only thing Chat Noir cared about was that she was keeping a secret from him. She had every right to keep secrets, but he seemed to think that the fact that they were partners meant they had to share everything, including their identities.

She needs to get this out of her head, to think of anything else. There are only two people that can help her right now, and she is only in contact with one.

Her finger hits Jason’s icon, and it goes straight to voicemail.

That never happens. Jason’s phone is never shut off, he has a policy of always answering his calls unless it’s extremely important, then he declines the call and fires a text explaining why. Marinette tries again.

_ “Hey! This is Jason Todd-Wayne! Leave a message!” _

And again.

_ “Hey! This is Jason Todd-Wayne! Leave-” _

And again.

_ “Hey! This is-” _

Cold dread settles in the pit of her stomach. Something is wrong. Very wrong.

> **Nette:** Jason, when you get this, call me. Please.
> 
> **Nette:** I have a really terrible feeling and my intuition is never wrong, but I need it to be just this once.
> 
> **Nette:** I need to know you’re okay.
> 
> **Nette:** Please, Jay.

A day passes without any response. Then two. Then three.

On the third day, the news app on her phone sends her a headline.

_ BRUCE WAYNE’S SECOND SON KILLED IN EXPLOSION IN ETHIOPIA! _

No. This couldn’t be true, fake news exists, false reports of celebrity deaths happen all the time, it can’t be true-

Before she registers what she’s doing, Marinette hits Tim’s contact, and before she can hang up, the call goes through. 

“Marinette?” His voice is tentative, but there is something else, an undertone of… sadness?

“Tim, I’m so sorry for bothering you, but Jason isn’t responding to my messages and my calls are going straight to voicemail and I have a really bad feeling-” Marinette is in near hysterics, which has never, ever happened.

“Marinette.” Tim’s voice wobbles, and she knows that whatever he says next is not good news.

“The second Robin is dead.”

.o0o.

She decides to take the zeta tube, finally using one of his last gifts to her.

When Tim returns home from school, Marinette is standing in front of the doors of Drake Manor, a tentative smile on her face, and he runs towards her, bike abandoned at the entrance.

Marinette buries her face in her brother’s neck (he’s gotten so  _ tall _ ) and inhales the familiar scent of coffee and linen. The smell of home.

Home was never the cold, empty manor or the City of Lights. Home had always meant Tim.

She was home.

.o0o.

They hold their own little memorial, placing a framed photo of Robin in a hollow oak tree in the vast woods that is their backyard. 

Marinette swears to herself to never forget anything about him. Jason Peter Todd-Wayne had midnight hair and clear blue eyes that glinted when he smiled his trademark lopsided smirk, which always appeared before he got into mischief. 

He had a tiny splash of freckles across his nose and a raspy laugh from years of inhaling cigarette smoke, both first and secondhand. He loved classical literature, especially Jane Austen, and could recite almost all of Shakespeare’s plays by heart. He was intelligent and brave and stubborn, always ready to stand up to oppressors of any kind.

Robin loved the feeling of running on rooftops. He loved protecting his city, and loved being a hero. ( _ Vigilante _ , he would have corrected.) He was the one that helped her through one of the worst days of her life. He inspired her to keep the earrings on and be a hero, to do what was right.

He made her smile on her good days, comforted her on the bad ones, and was always there for here, like he promised to be.

She thinks she may have loved him, and that is what breaks her.

A tear trails down her face, then another, and then she is sobbing, wailing, in front of a photo in a tree of a masked boy in a colorful costume. Her brother wraps an arm around her as her shoulders shake, his own silent tears sliding down his face.

_ You said you would always be here if I needed you, Jason. Well, I need you right now, more than ever. You said you would be here. Where are you? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd say sorry but i'm not sorry so...


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette returns to Paris, an ice cream man gets on her bad side, and a certain someone puts on red, green, and yellow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Updating after a quarter of a year?
> 
> Shoutout to [chick-fil-bae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chick_fil_bae/pseuds/chick_fil_bae) for beta-reading this chapter and literally being the biggest fan of this work ever. Thanks, Stormy!

“Do you have to leave?” Tim frowns. “You just came back.”

Marinette hugs her brother, and if she squeezes a little tighter than normal, neither of them mentions it. “As I already said, I’m not legally supposed to be in this country right now. I need to return to Paris before someone finds out.”

“Okay, but we’re not going to fall out of touch like that again, are we?” Tim asks, his eyebrows furrowing a little in worry. “Because I hated that.”

“I hated it too, Tim-Tam,” Marinette murmurs. “That isn’t going to happen ever again, not if I can help it. That being said, I should tell you that Jack and Janet don’t plan on ever letting me come home, not as long as I’m under their guardianship.”

Tim shrugs nonchalantly. “Oh, I figured it out maybe… three days after the initial revelation? I came to terms with it a while ago, I just didn’t know how to apologize for being a jerk.”

Marinette smiles and brushes her lips against her brother’s forehead, just like the old times. “I forgave you a long time ago, Tim-Tam. I’ll call you later?”

“Yeah. Talk to you later,” Tim grins, and then she turns into the alley and slips into the seemingly broken-down phone booth.

_ Recognized: Authorized Guest, D-01. Destination: Paris, France. _

.o0o.

“Bugaboo!” Chat Noir grins as Ladybug lands neatly on their usual roof for patrol. “I missed you yesterday! Why’d you miss paw-trol?”

“As I stated in the message I sent to your communicator earlier, I had an extremely important event to attend,” She replies shortly, not in the mood to discuss further.

“More important than patrol? With me?” 

Ladybug presses her lips together, forcing down a flare of annoyance. “Yes.”

She thinks this one time can be excused. After all, it’s not like he hasn’t canceled on her countless times either.

“Anyway,” Chat Noir says flippantly, “I was wondering if you were free tomorrow night. I know we don’t patrol on every fifth Saturday, but I want to give you a surprise.”

Ladybug thinks back to earlier that day at school, where the other girls decided she looked ‘down in the dumps’ and planned an evening spent eating Andre’s ice cream. “I have a prior engagement, so I may not make it. Do not count on my presence.”

.o0o.

“Ugh, Adrien’s dad won’t let him out again!” Alya complains. “He said he has a piano lesson!”

Marinette tilts her head, frowning, as she walks with her friends and their significant others. That was… interesting. As class president, she had everyone’s schedules memorized, and the students were supposed to notify her of any changes so she could plan activities accordingly. Adrien’s piano lessons were weekly on Thursdays directly after fencing, and it was highly unlikely that Gabriel would suddenly change his son’s schedule, not when he seemed to be a very meticulous person himself. Or his assistant Nathalie did, at least. She probably handled all the scheduling.

Once they find Andre’s cart, the cheerful man gives Alya and Nino, Ivan and Myléne, and Juleka and Rose, who finally confessed to each other, all couples’ cones. Chloé and Sabrina receive cones with colors and flavors that Marinette cannot pinpoint to anyone she knows, and then it is her turn.

The ice cream man looks at her with sorrowful eyes as he hands Marinette the same combination as last time - blackberry, blueberry, and mint.

“You have lost your first love,” He says mournfully. “But do not worry, you will find another, different and the same.”

His words are an ocean of salt on the fresh wound that is Jason’s death, and Marinette reels back like she’s been slapped, desperately wishing that Jason and Tim hadn’t taken away her ability to freeze all her emotions, to become cold and unflinching whenever everything became overwhelming.

But she isn’t a girl made from ice and marble anymore, only blood and bone. 

And when Andre says those words, something inside her snaps.

“Tell me, Andre,” She says, grey eyes narrowed to hide the tears that threaten to fall. Janet Drake may wish that Marinette wasn’t her daughter, but even she could not change the fact that Marinette had already learned her ways. “How does your ice cream work?”

“Well,” The man begins, seemingly oblivious to her mood, “Couples that eat Andre’s ice cream together stay together for life!”

“Yes, but what differentiates your ice cream from store-bought or homemade ice cream? What makes it soulmate ice cream? Or do you just see two people walking hand in hand and give them matching colors?”

“No, no!” The man cries, taken aback by the very notion. “Andre’s ice cream brings-”

“Brings people together for life, yes, I know. I have one more question for you. What, exactly, is the point of handing me an ice cream cone that represents Jason Peter Todd-Wayne if your ice cream brings people together for life and he’s dead?” 

Marinette shoves the cone back into Andre’s hands as he gapes, at a loss for words. “You can keep it. I won’t be needing it any time soon. Some magic matchmaking ice cream, hmm?”

She pivots on her heel and strides off the bridge, making it about thirty feet away before she lets herself cry.

.o0o.

Marinette heads straight for the balcony of her hotel suite, opening the doors and stepping out to let the crisp breeze blow across her face, drying the tears on her cheeks. Something rustles behind her, and her instincts go haywire, though she keeps her frame relaxed the way Janet always taught her to.

“Rough night?” A voice says, and Marinette’s fist is in Chat Noir’s face before she realizes who it is. Even after identifying the intruder on her balcony, she can’t find it in herself to regret it, but she knows it would be odd if she did not apologize, so she does so anyway.

“Oh! Chat Noir, I’m so sorry!”She half-shrieks, lifting her hands to her mouth in fake shock to perfect the image. Putting on a mask, even if it’s not a physical one, feels as easy as breathing. “It’s just that you startled me, and I thought you were maybe a burglar or a serial killer or-” 

The blond hero cuts her off with a laugh and a wave of a black-gloved hand. “Hey, it’s okay, no worries! You pack a nice punch. That’s going to be a great black eye. Anyway, what’s got you so down?” Chat Noir prods his left eye gingerly and winces. Marinette pretends not to notice.

Was it the greatest idea to open up to her partner as a civilian? No. She couldn’t exactly shoo one of the heroes of Paris off her balcony though, and the cat holder had already made himself comfortable, sitting down on the railing and looking perfectly at ease despite being six stories above the ground. 

“It’s nothing you could help with,” She finally says, and it’s true. Even the miraculi cannot bring back the dead, at least not without warping reality first. It was… unfortunate that she’d only realized the true extent of her feelings because Jason was dead. 

Marinette stifles a hysterical laugh. Unfortunate? It was a lot worse than that. Leave it to her mind to start shutting down and acting like Janet whenever she was unable to process anything.

“You know,” Chat Noir says, snapping her out of her thoughts. “I had this really cool surprise planned for Ladybug tonight. I was going to confess to her and everything, finally tell her that I loved her, and she never even showed.”

Marinette is suddenly glad she went to Andre’s instead of meeting Chat Noir, though she very clearly remembered telling him that he shouldn’t count on her presence because she had a prior engagement.

“Did Ladybug explicitly say she’d be there? I imagine that you do have lives outside of being heroes, yes? She probably had a good reason,” Marinette says, keeping her facial expression smooth and emotionless as she speaks, betraying no sign of the odd feeling she had inside while talking about herself in third person.

“Well, she said she had a ‘prior engagement’,” Chat Noir uses his fingers to sarcastically make quotation marks. “But I think she just didn’t want to go because it wasn’t patrol. I mean I canceled a hangout with my friends for her, so why couldn’t she just relax for once and do the same for me?”

His increasingly whiny tone is starting to remind her of the children at Gotham Academy. Marinette opens her mouth to argue back, berate him, or both, when a large ice cream monster that can only be another akuma blocks out the moon, casting a shadow over the balcony.

“Marinette? Where are you? Glaciator has a score to settle with you!” A voice that definitely belongs to Andre the ice cream man calls.

Marinette knew antagonizing Andre was a bad move, but in her defense, he brought up an extremely sore topic far too soon. All she had to do now was find a place away from Chat Noir and Glaciator and transform.

Luckily, Chat Noir solves both problems, extending his staff and positioning himself between her and the akuma. “Stay back, Marinette. I’ll protect you!” He leaps at Glaciator with a battle cry that she thought was quite pathetic, but it seemed to do the job of distracting both parties, so she wasn’t complaining.

“I’m going inside,” Marinette calls over the din of fighting. “Have fun!” She makes sure both Glaciator and Chat Noir are a considerable distance away from the hotel before transforming and swinging back out to join the fight.

.o0o.

Ladybug dives behind a car to take a momentary breather, narrowly avoiding another ice cream blast. Chat Noir follows a moment later, a pout still firmly stuck on his face, making him look like a petulant child.

“Are you seriously going to whine about me not showing up to something when I specifically told you I wouldn’t come?” Ladybug whispers sharply, aware that Glaciator was venturing closer and closer to their hiding place by the moment. 

“You stood me up! I canceled plans for you!” Chat Noir retorts, somehow deepening the pout. 

“I do not see why I should cancel plans in my civilian life in order to masquerade as my alter ego when there is no threat to the city and it is my only night off,” Ladybug pokes her head around the side of the car, tracking Glaciator’s movements. “Now, if you could save your tantrum for when we’re not in the middle of a battle, that would be extremely helpful.”

.o0o.

This was not what she had meant when she told Chat Noir to save his tantrum for later.

“I’m in love with you, Ladybug,” The blond is on one knee, offering her a single red rose with a dopey look on his face.

“That’s nice,” Ladybug says icily. “Because I don’t reciprocate those feelings.”

“Huh? But that’s not how it’s supposed to work!” Chat Noir says, and she tilts her head.

“What? Am I not allowed to say no? Because I believe I just did, and while we are on this subject, I’d like to reiterate that this partnership is strictly professional. Just in case you forgot.”

Chat Noir stands up with an unreadable look on his face and steps forward, leaning in towards her. Ladybug figures that she’s given him more than enough warnings at this point, so she gives him another black eye, making his face symmetrical once more.

“Ow! What was that for?” He recoils with a hiss of pain, and not for the first time, Ladybug wishes she had Superman’s heat vision so she could incinerate someone with a single glare.

“I literally just established that our partnership is strictly professional, and the first thing you do is lean in to kiss me?”

“That was going to be a cheek kiss!” Chat Noir protests, and Ladybug scoffs.

“Even if it was, did you really expect me to take that chance, given your previous actions?”

The black cat holder stays silent.

“Well,” Ladybug says, tone perfectly neutral. “If there is nothing more to discuss, then I will take my leave. Have a nice night.” She casts her yoyo and swings away off into the distance.

.o0o.

The next day, Adrien Agreste walks into school with two black eyes and an inability to look in her direction, and despite Tim always being the better detective of the two, it isn’t hard for Marinette to connect the dots.

That explains why Chat Noir was so adamant about Gabriel Agreste not being Hawkmoth back when she first suggested it after Volpina, she realizes. Now that the bias is obvious, Gabriel is moved to the top of her suspect list once more.

She pulls out her phone to update Jason on the case before remembering that he wouldn’t ever see it anyway.

Instead, she texts her brother a reminder to go to sleep, which receives a series of annoyed emojis in response. Tim does relent in the end, however, and she tucks her phone away just as class begins.

.o0o.

Marinette stares at her phone screen, reading the words over and over again and yet her mind still refuses to comprehend.

> **Tim-Tam:** I’m Robin.

She hits the call button with more force than she’s used on Mr. Pigeon, and the call is answered almost immediately, as if Tim was waiting for her.

“Hey Mari,” Tim sounds sheepish. Good. “You saw my message?”

There were many things she wanted to say, but the words that burst out of her mouth first are “Tim-Tam, what the  _ hell _ do you think you are doing?”

She’s only ever cursed one other time, when Janet slapped Tim for getting an A-minus, and the retaliation for that was severe enough that she has never done it again since. 

Until now.

“Taking pictures on rooftops was one thing - you stayed silent and out of the way, but now? Now you’re throwing yourself right into the center of those battles, attracting the attention of all the enemies so that Batman can sneak up on them, unseen, all while looking like a walking traffic light!”

“At least my costume has pants!” Tim retorts before giving a short sigh. “I didn’t plan on being Robin. I didn’t want to be Robin, not after Jason, but Batman was getting out of control, Mari. I had to call an ambulance for a pickpocket that Batman beat within an inch of his life.”

Something cold settles in the pit of her stomach. Marinette had been so focused on the hole in her own heart that she didn’t even think to consider the impact Jason’s loss would have had on Bruce, who’d found him in Crime Alley. Bruce, who’d adopted him and called him his son.

“It was obvious that he wasn’t coping well with Jason’s death, and Batman needs Robin to keep him in line as much as Robin needs Batman to act as a mentor,” Tim continues. “So I went to Bludhaven and tried to get Dick to take the Robin mantle back, but he refused, and there was no other option. I had to put on the costume. If I let Bruce continue down that road, he would have crossed the line he swore to never cross. I couldn’t let Batman cross that line, not when there was something I could do about it.”

“I know you have logical reasons for everything,” Marinette finally says. “It’s just that I’ve already lost Jason to the hero life, to Robin, and I don’t think I could manage if I lost you too.” She resists the urge to stomp down the feelings that bubble up inside her with ice, instead trying to let them be free despite how weird it makes her feel.

“I’m sorry, Mari, but there was no other way. I had to do this,” Her brother responds. Marinette always knew, deep down inside, that she couldn’t protect him from the world forever, but it is still hard to let him go.

“Just be careful out there, alright?” She asks. “I’m not going to make you promise. The world is an unpredictable place.”

_ Jason promised. _ The unspoken words hang heavy in the air, ringing in her ears.

“I’ll do my best,” Tim says, and pauses. “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...no, I definitely did not strategically place those line breaks to avoid writing fight scenes. definitely not.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Who I’d Be](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28118508) by [SavageNutella46](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SavageNutella46/pseuds/SavageNutella46)




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